Since 1991, the Quebec government has refused three times to implement the recommendations of its own medical advisers in reducing exposure to 60-Hertz electromagnetic fields (EMF). This situation is unacceptable since we may be the most exposed nation to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields among developed countries. This because of the predominance of electric heating in 70% of our homes, the multiple groundings done on metal plumbing and poor wiring practices generating elevated magnetic fields on the Hydro-Quebec grid and in buildings.

Record cancer rates

A situation all the more unacceptable that, according to latest statistics from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Quebecers show the highest incidence rates of three cancers suspected to be caused by exposure to ELF magnetic fields: brain cancer and breast cancer, and acute lymphocytic leukemia. Quebec children under 10 years also have the highest cancer rate highest in Canada.

While the established statistical links between magnetic fields and cancer are still inconclusive, lack of proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not excuse the inaction of our elected officials. Indeed, hundreds of high quality scientific studies justify the immédiate application of simple, low-cost ways of reducing our EMF exposure under the precautionary principle. Researchers have particularly noticed that magnetic fields suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that inhibits tumor growth, and that they block the medication Tamoxifen's action in fighting breast cancer.

Moreover, there is a "statistically significant and concordant association between childhood leukemia and exposure to domestic ELF magnetic fields at an intensity greater than 0.4 microTesla, with approximately a doubling of relative risk," concluded in 2001 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in classifying ELF magnetic fields as "possibly carcinogenic to humans". According to IARC, it is "unlikely" that this association "is due to chance." There is even "little doubt" that the ELF magnetic fields are a cause of childhood leukemia, according to an expert report (bioinitiative.org) published in 2007.

Recent studies also indicate increased risks of cranial tumors in people who regularly use mobile phones for more than ten years. This is worriesome when one considers that human exposure to radiofrequencies and microwaves emitted by wireless devices and télécommunication antennaes has increased exponentially over the past decade.

The synergistic effect of exposure to high and low frequencies makes the special situation of Quebecers "very worrying", Dr. David Carpenter, co-author of the Bioinitiative report and former director of the Albany (NY) University's School of Public Health, said in an interview. According to this historical report, current tolerated levels of exposure to EMFs are an outright threat to public health.

The European Action Plan

''Strongly moved " by the Bioinitiative report, members of the European Parliment adopted in February 2009, a resolution setting out 29 recommendations based on the precautionary principle. These include:

• to publish a guide of technological options to effectively reduce EMF exposure;

• to present an annual report on sources and levels of EMFs as well as on measures taken to better protect human health and the environment;

• to adopt minimum safe distances of powerlines and masts from dwellings;

• to launch a broad campaign to educate the public - especially young people -about the health risks presented by EMFs and best practices for using mobile phones and appliances;

• to impose a labeling requirement of the transmission power of all wireless devices and indicating that they emit microwaves (an obligation recently imposed by the city of San Francisco);

• to follow the example of Sweden, which gives people who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity the status of disabled persons, with the right to receive adequate protection and equal opportunity.

If the Quebec government truly cares about the well-being of its population and wants to control escalating health costs, it must imitate the dozen European countries are already acting in this direction.

Average rate of cancer per 100 000 population for the period 1997 to 2006, all ages and sexes (unless otherwise noted)

Quebec's high rates of acute lymphocytic leukemia as well as brain and breast cancer are indeed a serious concern. While there are many suspected causes of cancer, hundreds of high quality epidemiological and other scientific studies point to increased risk of cancer from elevated exposure to electromagnetic fields.

Our research shows that the childhood leukemia age peak emerged in the US in conjunction with the spread of residential electrification in the 1930s.

In the context of exponentially increasing exposure to high frequencies from wireless devices, and the fact that overexposure to elevated 60-Hertz magnetic fields has been linked to higher rates of lymphocytic leukemia as well as brain and breast cancer, the Quebec government would be wise to inform its population about simple and low-cost ways of reducing such overexposure.

Quebec's high rates of acute lymphocytic leukemia as well as brain and breast cancer are indeed a serious concern because of its population's exceptionally high exposure rates to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). While there are many suspected causes of cancer, high quality epidemiological, cellular and molecular investigations, as well as other scientific studies, point to increased risk of cancer from elevated exposure from EMFs.

Our research indicates that the epidemic of malignant melanoma skin cancer began in Scandinavia after erection of FM radio antennas in the late 1950s. This was seven years before travel in sun-drenched Southern countries became popular among Scandinavians.

In the context of exponentially increasing exposure to low and high frequencies from household electricity and indoor/outdoor wireless devices, and the fact that overexposure to 60-Hertz powerfrequent magnetic fields has been linked to higher rates of childhood leukemia, as well as brain and breast cancer, the Quebec government would be wise to inform its population about simple and low-cost ways of reducing such overexposure.

We are requesting that the Government of Quebec apply the precautionary principle in order to reduce Quebecers' exposure to 60-Hertz magnetic fields.

We note that this has been recommended three times by your Government's medical advisors since 1991, as well as by your INSPQ (Quebec Public Health Institute).

Our network also extends to the Quebec authorities its amicable availability and the resources of its international collaborative of advanced scientific thinking to help reduce such magnetic field exposure – on a regional and municipal on a multi-year basis. This follows prior offers by us to Hydro Quebec and to INSPQ since January 2005. We have estimated that with currently-available protocols and technology, the capital costs involved may be as low as $15,000,000, disbursed over a period of 3 to 5 years to reduce general population magnetic field exposure to less than 2 milliGauss (0.2 microTesla) throughout your populated areas. In our view such reduction in field exposure could result in considerable diminution of your Government's health budget.

In the 1980s I served as the Executive Secretary for the New York Powerlines Project, a 5 million dollar study of the health effects of 60 Hz magnetic fields. A part of our research efforts was a study that replicated earlier results demonstrating that children living in homes with elevated magnetic fields are at increased risk of developing leukemia.

Since that time the observation that risk of childhood leukemia is increased by exposure to magnetic fields has been replicated in many countries. It is now clear that adults are also vulnerable to leukemia from exposure to 60 Hz magnetic fields. In addition there is evidence for an increased risk of brain cancer, although this evidence is not as strong as for leukemia. More recent investigations have demonstrated that elevated magnetic fields increase risk of Alzheimer's Disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as well.

These are serious and often fatal diseases. It is the responsibility of any government to protect its citizens from avoidable risks. I urge the government of Quebec to apply the precautionary principle, and to do everything in its power to reduce exposure of the population to magnetic fields. I am attaching a publication that presents the evidence behind these recommendations, for your information.

Yours sincerely,

David O. Carpenter, M.D. Director, Institute for Health and the Environment University at Albany

Cancer Prevention through reduction of carcinogens in air, water, food, consumer products and the workplace

www.Prevel11cancer. com

March l, 2010

I unreservedly and strongly Mr. Fauteux's 6ditorial on the overdue and critical need to reduce euebecers' elevated exposure to magnetic fields. These fields pose well-documented risks of leukemia as well as some forms of brain and breast cancers.

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.

Emeritus p.ofe5ot Environmental and Occupational Medicine

University of Illinois School of Public Health and Chairman, The Cancer Prevention Coalition

Adverse health effects blamed on Wi-Fi in Simcoe County schools

People will say 'Why weren't we protected?': Lakehead president

Posted By Nathan Taylor

Federal guidelines for the use of wireless technology are dangerously outdated and should be more in line with emerging research, experts say.

And some Simcoe County parents, who say their kids have experienced adverse health effects as a result of wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) in their schools, agree.

Rodney Palmer, who has two children, four and nine years old, at Mountain View Elementary School in Collingwood, recently made a presentation to the Simcoe County District School Board. He informed the board that some students were experiencing headaches, dizziness, distorted vision and other symptoms that otherwise weren't usually a problem with the children.

Palmer's four-year-old daughter would get a rash on her leg — something that would happen only at school, he said.

"It's really the long-term effects that I'm worried about. Introducing a four-year-old to microwave radiation for six hours a day when it's not being used is profoundly unnecessary," he said, noting the majority of the school's eight transmitters were left on when they were not needed.

The long-term effects are what worry researchers, too.

The longer people are exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), the more sensitive they become to them, and the symptoms become more severe, said Magda Havas, an associate professor at Trent University who has been conducting electromagnetic research for 20 years.

She cited a study out of the University of Stockholm in Sweden, where human cells were exposed to radiation at frequencies of both 915 and 1,900 megahertz (MHz). The ability of a cell to heal itself was shown to be impaired when exposed to either frequency.

Havas was involved with a 2008 blind study in Colorado that tested the effects of EMFs on 25 adults. Researchers used cordless phones with a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), which is used in schools, Havas noted. When the phones were turned on, six people's hearts "started behaving erratically," she said, adding their heart activity normalized after the phones were shut off.

What's alarming to Havas is that 2.4 GHz is a microwave frequency.

"What we're using for Wi-Fi in schools is basically a weaker microwave," she said. "With a microwave oven, you close the door and the microwaves are contained within the oven, whereas, with our schools, the microwaves are released into the environment. The school becomes the microwave."

Microwave radiation in school? Protect your kids at home

One of the biggest health concerns in Collingwood now is that the public school board has installed every school with Wifi to connect to the internet without wires.

Most people don't know that Wifi operates at 2.4 GHz, the exact same frequency a microwave oven uses to cook food.

Those little home Wifi devices can give some people headaches and cause dizziness and blurred vision, but the units inside schools are the size of a cell phone tower and are much more powerful.

This means the kids are getting exposed to microwave radiation for the whole day, starting in kindergarten. Scientists warn that kids are much more susceptible than adults to the adverse health effects because of their still developing bodies.

Since it's never been installed in kindergarten classes before now, no one really knows what the long term health impact will be.

Health Canada has not caught up with the technology and has not yet set safe limits. But European jurisdictions have already set the Wifi limits at 1,000 to 10,000 times lower than exposure to microwave ovens.

That's because the Wifi tends to be on all day long.

One thing is for certain, installing Wifi/microwave transmitters in our schools goes against the recommendations of leading scientists, researchers and medical doctors.

Somehow convenience has edged out safety when it comes to our schools, so it's best to protect your kids where you can, in your own home.

Turn off your Wifiwhen you're not on the internet, instead of leaving it on all day.

This way the kids get a break from the microwaves when they're at home.

Or better yet remove it or don't install it in the first place. You can plug a cable into the computer instead and get the same result.

Google is already turning its back on Wifi and promoting fibre optic cables for internet connection because it's better and faster.

The French Public Library system dismantled its Wifi system over health concerns in 2008, and the German government has issued a public health warning for people to avoid Wifi hotspots.

Lakehead University has banned Wifi on campus for several years now, but not everyone is hearing the warnings.

So many people these days are becoming sensitive to electricity that the World Health Organization has actually declared it a disorder.

It's called Electro Hypersensitivity and it affects as much as 3% of the human population. As much as 35% will have some mild health effect like headache or dizziness.

Major magazines such as Prevention, Popular Science and even GQ have printed long investigative stories about the problem with cell phones and Wifi in the last three months.

Symptoms also include sore eyes, blurred or distorted vision, skin rashes, and can get as bad as vertigo, miscarriage, psychosis, tumours, leukemia, and cancer.

With the advancement of technology to "wireless" we're entering a whole new world of potential sickness, disease and disability.

Think twice before you buy something just because it's wireless, and protect yourself by avoiding it, instead of medicating after you get sick.

The Unknown Quantity

While many sources of man-made electromagnetic radiation have been shown to contribute to ill-health, it is the saturation of both our personal and public environment with RF / microwave radiation which is the most dangerous EM Pollution threat to our health. Although not widely known, it is a fact that wireless technology, especially the ubiquitous Wi-Fi, was never tested before being introduced to the public in 1997.

The diagram above shows how a WiFi network is set up. Obviously the power levels closest to the Master Access Point are highest, followed by the Relay Access Points then the Remote Access Points. Laptops and PCs put out their own EM pollution in addition to the WiFi.

Wi-Fi escaped testing due to its use of an unlicensed part of the radio spectrum and as long as basic requirements for interference and compatibility were met, consumers were able to buy these Wi-Fi devices. WiMax has been described as WiFi on steroids and is potentially orders of magnitude more dangerous.

The diagram above shows the electro-magnetic spectrum and some of its biological effects.

Those who approve planning applications for the placement of antennas within their jurisdiction are bound by local planning laws. Provided applications meet guidelines frequently based on research sponsored by those with a vested interest, planning is invariably granted whatever the personal preferences of those making the decision might be.

Such local authorities are told by both the telecommunication industry and by central government that this technology is safe as long as the radio frequency exposure remains below the national guidelines. The industry calculates the exposure in a particular area for approval and, once the antennas are erected, unannounced monitoring is seldom conducted to determine whether those values are correct.

The international ICNIRP guideline is based on short-term thermal effects. This guideline is based on the assumption that if microwave energy does not heat tissue it is not harmful. This assumption is incorrect and has been known to be incorrect for a number of years. Adverse biological effects have been documented at levels below recommended guidelines and there are no guidelines for non-thermal effects, nor are there guidelines for long-term exposure. The technological developments and uses of wireless devices are running well ahead of the policy decisions necessary to ensure their safety.

Whether non-thermal effects occur is no longer the issue, the issue is at what level do these non-thermal effects occur and what are the safe levels of long-term exposure. Guidelines for exposure to environmental contaminants are similar in countries around the world. If these guidelines differ, the difference is often within narrow limits or relates to specific conditions unique to a particular environment or a particular population. This is not the case for radio and microwave frequency radiation.

Radio frequency guidelines vary by orders of magnitude in countries around the world.

The FCC guideline ranges from 200 to 1000 microW/cm based on frequency and is much higher than the guidelines recommended in New Zealand, Italy, China, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, Austria and in New South Wales, Australia. Since the science upon which these guidelines are based remains the same, one way of interpreting this discrepancy is that some countries place a greater value on science and on preventative health regulations while others may place a greater value on commerce.

A number of adverse health effects have been documented at levels below the FCC guidelines, which include altered white blood cells in school children; childhood leukaemia; impaired motor function, reaction time, and memory; headaches, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, and insomnia. At the frequency in question for Wi-Fi technology the guideline in the US is 1000 microW/cm (or 1 milliW/cm).

There have been no studies to date on the effects of exposure to Wi-Fi. This in itself is unusual since populations are already being exposed to this energy without any studies on how they might be affected. Since there is not yet enough information about exposure to Wi-Fi there is a need to rely on studies of exposure to similar types of radio frequency radiation. The closest case studies are those of exposure to cell phone antennas and cell phones.

As of 2007 there have been seven epidemiological studies of people living near cell phone antennas in Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Germany, Egypt and Austria and each one of these studies documents adverse health effects. Studies in Israel and Germany show increased risk of cancer and the others show increased symptoms of electro-hypersensitivity (EHS). In all of the studies, exposures are orders of magnitude below the FCC guideline.

Digital TV Switchover

A similar situation exists with our intended full switchover to Digital TV broadcasts. No testing has been done to determine the safety of this new TV broadcast format even though the new signal is 250 times stronger than the previous analogue one. In fact, several German physicians wrote to President Obama and Congress urging caution and requesting a stop to the introduction of DTV based on the negative health effects experienced in Germany.

The type of signal used is fundamental to understanding the danger of wireless / digital technology. Prior to the use of digital technology all radio wave signals were broadcast in analogue format. An analogue signal is an unmodulated radio sine wave. Since normal radio waves move in this flowing manner, they are not dangerous to us (only exception is the heating effect to the body when standing too close to a transmitter tower). This is how radio stations, analogue TV, and some older cordless phones work.

In contrast to the analogue signal, a digital signal is a modulated radio wave. What this means is that instead of the smooth rhythm of the sine wave, we now have the unnatural, man-made 'square wave'. This angular wave represents a pulsed signal which is either on (1) or off (0). This is exactly how Cell Phones, Digital TV broadcasts, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cell Towers / Masts, and all other wireless technologies work. In order for all these technologies to carry the necessary information the signals must be modulated. Therefore, the key to wireless and digital technology is a pulsed or modulated radio wave which emits unnatural microwave radiation. It is this unnatural pulse modulation of microwave radiation that creates the greatest threat to our health.

There are two aspects to digital signals – the high frequency of the broadcast microwave (carrier wave) and the low frequency of the pulse modulation (data transmission). In other words, the data transmission is embedded in the carrier wave. The carrier wave is usually high frequency and low power. The modulated portion (data transmission) is low frequency but very high power. These signals are amplitude modulated and the signal strength rises and falls in time at a lower frequency. It is these very sharp spikes (peaks) of high amplitude (high power) unnatural pulsed lower frequencies, many of which occur in the biologically active range of 3 – 25 Hz, which can and will interfere with everything from brain processes to hormone production to cell repair. Even though these signals are many magnitudes lower in power than guidelines established by the FCC in the U.S. or by the ICNIRP for Europe – which again only protect from thermal / heating effects – the body is negatively affected due to non-thermal biological effects.

While many, especially the telecommunications industry, regulatory agencies (FCC), and radiation safety organizations (i.e. ICNIRP) still claim there is no proof of these non-thermal effects, research has provided conclusive evidence of non-thermal biological damage. These scientists have proven that when we are exposed to the unnatural, man-made radiation from our modern technology it will have a direct negative effect on our nervous system, immune system, cellular function, and ultimately our DNA.

The AUVA Report of July 2009 verified that EMFs from cell phones damage the brain and nervous system, immune system, and induce changes in protein synthesis that lead to increased rates of DNA breakage, all at power levels well below the accepted SAR levels. In fact, damage was shown to start at 0.1 W/kg. Remember, the U.S. safety guidelines for cell phones are ≤ 1.6 W/kg! Also noted in this report was the increased susceptibility of children and youths to the negative health effects of this radiation due to the especially pronounced tissue growth and therefore cell replication of this age group.

Web site www.weepinitiative.org e-mailcontactweep@weepinitiative.org

To sign up for WEEP News: newssignup@weepinitiative.org (provide name and e-mail address)

W.E.E.P. – The Canadian initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution

WEEP News

by: Martin Weatherall

As a Canadian independent foundation, WEEP acts as an umbrella organization and focuses on progressive initiatives that bring increased awareness, policy change, and entrepreneurial activity around the issues of safe Electro Magnetic emissions.

WEEP News is a service provided by WEEP to keep those interested in and affected by Wireless, Electric, & Electromagnetic Pollution, informed on a daily basis, of all the current issues and initiatives in the world today.